GAYS QUIETLY TIE THE KNOT IN BRAZILIAN STATE: From the Associated Press

To the cheers of a delighted crowd, Joazinho Moraes and Alcindo Sandini exchanged gold rings and cut their white wedding cake inside their beauty salon across the street from the city's Roman Catholic cathedral.

A day earlier, the two men sealed their commitment by signing papers before a justice of the peace, becoming the latest gay couple to get hitched in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's first state to permit civil unions between same-sex couples.

Now it was time to party with champagne and hors d'oeuvres, a celebration that symbolizes one of the biggest gains for gay rights in Latin America.

Unlike the controversy raging in the United States over gay marriages, a landmark judicial decision two months ago allowing civil unions in Brazil's southernmost state has generated little tension in Porto Alegre. It's such a non-issue in South America's largest country that many people don't even know about it.

In the United States, homosexuals from San Francisco to New York state raced to get married for fear that newly permitted gay marriages could soon be made illegal. But even opponents of civil unions in Rio Grande do Sul doubt the decision will be overturned. ...

The order allowing civil unions gives same-sex couples in Rio Grande do Sul broad rights in areas such as inheritance and child custody, and legal grounds to seek insurance benefits and pensions.

Legislation approved last year in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was hailed as the first big victory for gay rights in Latin America. But unlike the Brazilian decree, the Argentine measure does not grant gay couples legal status for their unions, allow them to adopt children or receive inheritances.

The Rio Grande do Sul decision came after a lesbian college professor heading on a sabbatical abroad tried to get her university to pay for her partner's costs, but was refused because they were not married.

Following a request by the state's human rights commission, a panel of judges issued an opinion defending gays' right to seek the same legal protections afforded to traditional married couples. Under Brazilian law, it cannot be overturned in federal courts.

"The only way to change it would be with a constitutional amendment to say 'All Brazilians are equal except gays' and that will never happen," said Luis Gustavo Weiler, a leader of Nuances, a Porto Alegre gay group.

The order generated modest interest in Porto Alegre's newspapers, with local religious leaders condemning civil unions as condoning "sin" and "heresy." But it barely made ripples elsewhere in Brazil, and didn't lead to calls by national politicians to halt civil unions.

more
posted by Eve at 4:16 PM | link

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home